


Give me Twenty and I'll be There

by Redhoodshood



Series: Non-Reader inserts Batfam [8]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Jason Todd imagine, Mentions of Death, Nightmares, Other, Red Hood Imagine, damian wayne imagine, jason todd imagines - Freeform, robin imagine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 20:06:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18835831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redhoodshood/pseuds/Redhoodshood
Summary: Waking up from nightmares was something normal for Jason. The feeling of fear crawls up his skin as he tried to calm down. Jason is more than surprised when he gets a phone call from his younger brother, Damian during one of his frequent nighttime terrors.





	Give me Twenty and I'll be There

I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid. 

He was afraid. Utterly Afraid. 

Jason sat holding back tears in the dark. His body shook back and forth as he rocked himself. He was scared, very scared. When nights like this came around he didn’t know what to do but try and reassure himself. His eyes peered at the bright red of his alarm clocks time, four A.M. 

Jasons' hair was all tangled and bags rested under his eyes as the fear made everything else fade away. All he could remember was the fear and the suffocation of the coffin, the burning, and itching of the Lazarus pit, the green that enveloped him and made him this. 

His hands tangled in his hair as he tried to suppress the thoughts the plagued him. The effects of the pit made his memories hazy, everything was hazy. everything but those moments. They swirled in his mind like a hurricane, taking over his entire being and leaving only destruction after the thoughts were gone. 

His own mind was never a safe place. He was paranoid about everything. when he closed his eyes all he saw was death. His mind played tricks on him. He’d close his eyes and he was in his grave or he was in the pit or he was crazy trying to murder his family. Jason hated going to bed, he hated when things were quiet because that's when it got it's worse. when the defending silence never shut up and his thoughts ran rapidly through his mind creating scenarios and retelling stories he tried so hard to bury. Quiet for Jason was violent. 

I’m not afraid. I’m okay. I’m not afraid. I’m okay. 

He wasn’t okay. Night after night it was this or that, running on empty and no sleep for days because whenever he closed his eyes it was all he saw. The only time he slept was when he passed out but even then nightmares woke him up an hour later. His own mind was killing him. No matter how hard he tried his mind never. Shut. up. About. His. death. 

“Please stop, please stop, please stop,” Jason whispered begging his own mind to shut up. He wanted to die, he wanted to go out on patrol and just never come out of it alive because every day was a struggle. He wanted to stay dead. 

He needed help but no one would understand. How could they? Had they died? Where they betrayed by their mother? Killed by a psychotic clown and risen from the dead in their grave six months later and crawled out of it only to be thrown into a pit of green goop and become insane? No. No one would understand him. He didn’t even understand himself.

His hands shook as he reached over to the light on his nightstand and pulled the chain down to turn on the light. He needed some light because the darkness that enveloped him made him see things. Things he didn't want to see. It surrounded him in this shroud of pain that wasn’t there but it reminded him so much of the coffin that his body recognized it. The light had to be on when he was like this. 

Jason almost fell out of his bed when he heard his phone ringing next to him. His mind wasn't in the right place for sudden noises. He slowly peeked at the name on his phone which read. “Spawn.” 

It was Damian calling. 

Jason pulled at his hair before taking a deep breath and wiping his tears away. He had to make it seem like he was okay, he had to put his mask back on. A few deep breaths later and clearing of his throat and he picked up his phone.

He slid his finger across the screen answering it. “What do you want, Damian?” His voice was hoarse and you could tell he was crying. 

It was silent on the other line except for a few shuffling noises. He was beginning to think Damian called him by accident. A few more movement and Damian’s voice was heard through the speaker of his phone. 

“What’s happening, Todd?” He asked. His voice was barely above a whisper like he was trying to hide something. “I simply….had a feeling something was off.” 

Jason raised his eyebrow and bit his lip. Damian was trying to be nice and help Jason which was weird. Jason felt like hanging up because this was just too strange. 

“And why would you feel that way?” Jason asked resting his head on the headboard and closed his eyes. He would be lying if he said this distraction wasn’t what he needed after the panic he was having. 

Shuffling on the other end of the line was heard again before Damian replied. “TT, I just have a feeling okay? Why must you question me?” Damian asked harshly still in a whisper. 

Jason shrugged before realizing this was a phone call. “Because this isn’t normal of you to check up on me. I mean you’ve called me twice in your lifetime and both times were to challenge me to fight you.” Jason let out a soft chuckle at the memories. “Sorry if I’m a little wary.”

Damian let out a sigh from the other side of the line. Jason was right this was out of nowhere but how could Damian explain that he’d had a nightmare about his own death? How could he explain he was scared out of his mind and if anyone could understand it would be Jason. 

“...you’re right, I shouldn’t bother you, Todd, I must get going,” Damian said hanging up before his brother could reply. He was nervous calling Jason. Showing emotions, being kind wasn't really Damian's things and trying it now when he was in a slight panic was hard since he didn’t really know how to cope with emotions. 

Damian slapped his face and bit his lip. “Get yourself together, Damian. You can’t act like a child,” He whispered yelled to himself. It was frustrating how he was acting, it was just dying...why does he need to overreact?

A string of profanities came out of Damian's mouth as he fell back against his bed. HIs mind was running rapid and beads of sweat pooled on his forehead. Most of his family had died and come back alive so why did he have to act like such a baby about his? 

The images of his final moments just kept flashing in his mind and the isolation of his dream made dread crawl up his back and rest on his shoulders. He died protecting Dick which was something he was somewhat proud of, something they, his family, saw as something he did for someone other than himself. 

Damian's fingers laced through his hair as he stared up at the black ceiling of his room. He too wished he was still dead, it would just be so much easier. His mother was the reason he died. Jasons mother was a reason he was dead. The two were such alike but so different in other ways. Damian so wished he could just connect with Jason. 

His nerves jumped when his phone rang next to him, vibrating the bed. Looking at the name he held his breath. It was Jason. Should he answer? Decline? Ignore? 

“What do you want Jason?” He asked answering the phone to him. 

Damian heard a shuffling from the other side of the line. “You know, just because I ask a question doesn’t mean you need to make up some bullshit excuse of why you need to go...I kind of like your presence.” 

Damian let out a hum of a question, he wasn’t sure he heard his brother correctly. “What?” 

“You aren’t as bad as I or everyone makes you out to be….In a way were similar and sometimes that's why it's hard for me to talk to you.” Jason said letting out a deep breath. It was hard for him to open up to people, maybe it was the panic or the dreams but he felt like opening up. Damian was speechless. “It's weird to have me talking to you like this huh? Just imagine what I thought.” 

“I suppose so, Todd.” Damian took a long pause and let out a breath, it was now or ever. “I had a nightmare...about my death and I thought you’d understand how it feels to be trapped in your mind the thoughts of survival and nightmares swirling in your mind like a never-ending storm.” 

The description Damian had given Jason made him shiver in his seat against his headboard. He did know what it was like to have those dreams. He lived with them almost every night. “Yeah, the feeling that if you don’t tear at your skin and itch at the memories, the constant looking around when you know you’re safe because they just never leave,” Jason added tearing at the back of his li with his teeth. 

“Precisely,” Damian sighed rubbing his hand against his eyes. He didn’t mind being up so early, truth be told it was better than when he usually woke up. He slept late from being out on patrol and woke up early from the nightmares that whispered sickening things in his mind. 

Jason put the phone against his shoulder and cheek before picking at the skin around his nails. A habit he had picked up from when he lived on the streets. He realized it was a nervous habit and bad for himself and yet his habits always seemed to be bad ones, they helped him cope most of the time. 

Bad habits are the best habits, right? 

Jason looked at his clock once more before tearing off the last piece of skin that hung from his thumb. “I know it's early but since we’re both fucked up in the head, want to go get breakfast or something? You can pick where if you want.” 

Sure it was weird to jump straight from talking about your death to getting breakfast but anyway to take his mind off of it was the best way. Plus what's the harm in getting to know his little brother? The one who was like him. Maybe after today Damian will choose to forget what happened or he’ll suppress it like with most thing but there was no pain in trying. 

Jason heard more shuffling from the other line thinking maybe Damian was going to hang up again. He was surprised when a quiet sure came through. It must take Damian a lot to open up let alone show he had feelings and would also like to know his older brother better. 

“Give me twenty and I’ll be there,” Jason said getting out of bed and throwing a dirty shirt on.


End file.
